Build a Streak with your favorite players and compete to win $5.6 million

June 2011

In 10-plus years of Beat the Streak play, only 31 Streakers have reached the 40-game plateau. I’ve never been there myself, but I hear you can just barely see the hulking pile of cash that is 57 games at the edge of the horizon.

With jonroy73 just one correct pick from expanding Club 40 to 32 members, we sent out the BTS Report P.I. Squad to dig up some dirt on our season leader. And by that, I mean that I emailed him some probing personal questions and he was kind enough to respond.

Our main man is Jonathan Roy. He lives near Boston and works for a food company that makes falafel and rangoons. Here’s a free falafel tip, Jon: the answer is more hummus. And then even more hummus.

Mr. Roy admitted that he’s something of a baseball polygamist, rooting for the Red Sox but naming Don Mattingly as his all-time favorite player. Some of you may consider this a sports sin of the highest order, but the relevant authorities have determined that fans of any team were allowed to root for Donnie Baseball under the “Dynamite Lip Sweater” corollary.

In other Red Sox-fan-admiring-Yankees news, Jonathan once spotted streak king Joe DiMaggio at a Florida airport while catching a flight home from Spring Break. “Just seeing him gave me the chills, legend,” he said. Considering the things that happen in Daytona Beach during Spring Break, I’m skeptical that it was the sight of the Yankee Clipper giving you chills. Ether way, this Streak is clearly star-crossed.

So how did our leader go from ogling Joe D on the tarmac to chasing his 56 games? Surely he’s relied on years of BTS experience and a complex mathematical formula.

Or not: “Until 25 games I just picked blindly — logged in and randomly selected a team and then selected one of their better players. Since 25 I have been looking at matchups and flipping coins when it comes down to two choices.”

To the commenters who spend hours each day agonizing over stadium wind speeds before making a pick: Stop selling your possessions. Cancel the plane tickets to South America. It’s going to be OK. As the old saying goes, there’s more than one way to build a streak while skinning a cat.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Jonathan’s favorite food is his Nana’s lazy pierogis. Which have a Wikipedia page in Polish.

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Thursday’s picks:

Another Interleague short slate means we’re going no-frills — no spicy feelings, no future thankings. Below are today’s only Report-authorized selections. You can leave the beaten path if you so choose, but doing so definitely voids your extended warranty.

Now that we’re all acquainted with Jon Roy, what about bclark2779? Our current No. 2 extended his streak to 35 games yesterday thanks to Miguel Cabrera, making him a definite Streaker of interest for the P.I. Squad. Stay tuned …

A lot of BTS players would have crossed off the entire opposing lineup when they saw Zack Greinke‘s name on the probable pitchers list.

Our current leader is apparently not one of those players.

Jonroy73 showed no fear of the Brewers right-hander last night, rolling with Robinson Cano and hitting paydirt on the second baseman’s second-inning RBI single. Although Greinke entered the game with a 4.77 ERA, his history of dominance made Mr. Roy’s Tuesday pick a little riskier than most. Hey, live by the Yankees lineup, die by the Yankees lineup, we guess.

Anyway, only seven players in Major League history have reached jonroy’s total of 38 games. A hit tonight would tie him with Paul Molitor‘s 39 game run in 1987. Good luck and Bourn-speed.

For the first time this season, you’ve slayed the mythical dragon that is 15-for-15. Jose Bautista led the way with a 2-for-4, Starlin Castro brought up the rear with a triple in four at-bats and everyone in between also notched at least one base knock.

Don’t believe us? Boom! Photo evidence:

When all was said and done, nearly 79 percent of all Monday selectors experienced peanut butter jelly time from one of these 15 sluggers alone. It’s a truly historic achievement, one which many of you have surely dreamed about since the dawn of your Streaking careers.

Take the morning off to celebrate. Just make sure you’re back by 2:15 to make one of …

Miguel Cabrera was the silver medalist in yesterday’s popularity contest at 15.8 percent, and both current sheriff jonroy73 and his deputy bclark2779 featured among that total. Mr. Roy’s move to 37 games ties him for the season lead. So far 100 percent of people who reached that total have failed to advance (sample size: 1). In other words, the prognosis is not promising.

So, the weekend brought good news and bad news for the folks atop the season leaderboard. Which do you want first? Bad news? You got it!

Season leader Sebringt‘s inspired run petered out of gas at 37 games, meaning that we’re still looking for our first 40-game streak of the 2011 campaign.

The good news: sebringt converted with Adrian Gonzalez yesterday, meaning they’re now just 36 days from matching their season-high streak.

Hang on, that was just the appetizer to our three-course good news meal. The entree: jonroy73 made it through the weekend unscathed and is now chillin’ at 36 games. A correct pick on Monday would give him his own share of the season lead. Three more weeks of correct picks would mean a $5.7 million all-you-can-eat buffet.

And for dessert: bclark2779 is just a few games behind Mr. Roy, currently holding down second place with a 32-gamer.

So remember all that stuff we said about how Thursday would be one of the hardest days of the season for Streak picks?

Well, umm, we may have overstated it a little bit.

As it turned out, five of your top six picks converted — including the top three — advancing a hefty 62.6 percent of all selectors in the process. Jose Reyes was responsible for over half of that total by himself, achieving national hero status with a 2-for-4 effort against the A’s.

The weekend’s full slates presents a less challenging picking environment, but Interleague matchups should always be approached with caution. Play safe, don’t run on the pool deck and feel free to reap the wisdom of …

Current leader sebringt and co-pilot jonroy73 both survived yesterday thanks to Ichiro Suzuki. The sebring is now parked at 36 games, meaning things are about to get super-serious if they make it through the weekend.

Yesterday was a productive one in Streakland. Your top four selections — J-Up, A-Gon, M-Cab and J-Ham — joined forces to go 8-for-13, and advanced a combined 33.8 percent of all Streakers in the process. Piñatas were bashed, ice cream cake was eaten and a great time was had by all.

Today, well, today is unlikely to be so kind.

We’re heading straight into the eye of an Interleague Thursday, folks. Five games, 10 teams and very little matchup history. Animals are acting strange. The sky is a shade of purple. Our joints are aching. Make no mistake: the big one is coming.

As such, we’re providing a special relief plan. Below, in ranked order as determined by a super-secret formula, are the 13 hitters we’d consider rolling with today. We’re not saying you can’t pick a batsman not listed here. We’re just saying that we wouldn’t recommend it.

No feelin’ spicy, no thankin’ me later today. Just 13 kid-tested, mother-approved pick suggestions. Hunker down, Streakers, and let us know about any hidden gems in the comments.

The good ship Sebringt docked at the Port of 35 Games last night with a little help from Miguel Cabrera, and now sits a scant 22 days from the $5.6 million buried treasure. Special shoutout also goes to Jonroy73, whose 32-game run puts him second on both the current and season leaderboards. Good luck riding out the story today, gamers.

Yesterday was a throwback Tuesday in Streakland, with ageless wonder Bobby Abreu leading the hit parade for 11.5 percent of all selectors.

We wonder where all you guys came up with that idea? What’s that old saying — even a blind MLBlog sometimes finds an Angels DH? Pretty sure that’s how it goes.

Anyway, Pauly Konks and Adrian Gonzalez also converted last night, combining to push an additional 18.6 percent of Streakers 24 hours closer to a 10 percent down payment on the $56 million house of their dreams.

Wednesday’s picks are below, please enjoy them responsibly. Nobody says you have to go and take Justin Upton today — hey, it’s your Streak on the line — but just remember that the Report is on a little bit of a (one-day) roll.

On Monday, Ryan Braun got sick. On Tuesday, Joey Votto and the Reds got rained out. On Wednesday, we may finally get to see sebringt make a run at 35 games. Either that, or we’ll know there’s a force even bigger than BTS at work here.

Well, really, all you Streakers did was pick Adrian Gonzalez. The Red Sox first baseman handled most of the actual legwork yesterday, rapping two singles and a double in a 14-5 drubbing of the Padres, and advancing 21 percent of all selectors in the process.

Gonzalez is as hot of a hitter as you’ll find these days, raking .353 on the season, .433 in June and .455 in his last 11 games. Feel free to deploy the power of the goatee in any ballpark and against any pitcher until further notice.

Ryan Braun‘s illness pushed the pause button on sebringt‘s quest for 35 games for at least one day, allowing current silver medalist jonroy73 to gain a little bit of ground. JR’s streak now sits at 30 games — A.K.A. 17 games shy of 10 games shy of $5.6 million.

Two challengers entered the BTS arena last Friday, each with a share of the season lead and a hunger for everlasting glory. Now, just one remains: sebringt.

Our convertible-loving current champ got two hits from Adrian Gonzalez last night, pushing his run to 34 games and extending his margin atop the season leaderboard to three. Nearly 20 percent of all Streakers agreed with the A-Gone pick and were rewarded for their efforts.

With no other current streak above 29 games, this could be the sebringt show for a while. Don’t look now, but he’s roughly a week away from our — gasp — first BTS Report Streaker interview of the 2011 campaign.

There isn’t much matchup history to tap into on this interleague Monday, so today’s picks are based on recent performance at the plate, how much we’d like to play wiffle ball with them and a few other secret ingredients. Please enjoy responsibly.

Our prediction yesterday that only one of the two co-leaders would emerge from Thursday’s action unscathed proved … woefully incorrect. Score one against the prescience of the BTS Report, but — more importantly — also score one for jdc5850 and another for sebringt.

Got your imaginary scorecards updated? Good. A look at the real scorecard shows the dynamic duo at 31 games apiece and tied for the 2011 lead with leahydpt and jsmnapoli.

If either jdc or sebring survives the weekend, we’ll be primed for the first mid-30’s run of the season. If both survive, then book the back room at Chuck E. Cheese’s because it is officially party time.

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